Normal for muffler to leak?

[Lethidox]

just changed my 4 o2 sensors and catalytic converter setup yesterday. changed fuel filter today. started up the car figured it would have issues starting which it did then it started off 1 crank. let it idle a little bit and gave it a little gas heard a pop figured nothing maybe that was just the fuel cycling/air pocket from changing the fuel filter.

went under to check because car is idling kind of rough, whole exhaust is shaking. check the tail pipe some white smoke is coming out but i can't really recall if this is normal for this car and it's age and history. car is a 98 sitting in the weather all these years with little to no maintenance until now.

fuel filter area doesn't seem to be leaking but i see some leakage after the flex assembly pipe leading towards the muffle and then there are these 2 circular holes on the underside of the muffler just leaking steady stream. turned off the car puddle is gone. assumed it was fuel so i checked again it's leaking same thing this time i touched it multiple times. literally felt like just water. smelled it, smells like straight up water.

not entirely sure what is wrong. car isn't posting engine light just yet i had to remove battery last night to work on it usually after driving it a little ( maybe 30miles for sure ) it will post an engine light. have not driven it on the road yet, too much stop and go traffic in my area at most hours so planning to test drive it at night.

prior only codes it were reading were bank 2 sensor 2 error codes and p0420 as well as misfire on cylinder 1 ONLY. i've changed the spark plugs out twice now in the same month. changed all the spark plug wires as well. i've added some fuel injector cleaner to the gas but it was already full so i am trying to empty out the tank and run another one.

the white smoke coming out isn't like a huge cloud. it's very small amount but you can see it.

[aleekat]

A 98 What? What engine? Could be just excessive condensation from sitting.

[Lethidox]

oh damn i forgot to put the make and model XD

it's a 98 ford windstar 3.0L i live in Hawaii though so idk colder climates and colder days i can understand but it has been raining a lot recently usually does this time of year up to around jan. car has been mostly sitting as well for past 2 weeks only drove it once to and from work but that was at the 1 week ago.

car still kind of has a really rough idle as well. i don't think it's the spark plugs or wires though since it only misfires on cylinder 1 so only thing i can think of would be clogged injector otherwise possibly head gasket leak you think?

gonna test drive it around the block a few times later tonight

[aleekat]

I' start simple. Swap wires and see if it follows. If not, pull the plug and see if it's fouled.

[Lethidox]

i've changed the spark plugs twice in November brand new NGK ones idk how long it ran with the original ones i pulled out but when i replaced the 1st brand new set the cylinder 1 looked like it maybe wasn't arcing right there was a small black spot right on the ceramic part under the plug. the entire ceramic was whitish color so it was very noticeable. the rest of the plugs did not have this they looked all the same with some carbon deposits i think it is on the top part where it arcs to.

as for the wires i replaced them with i believe OEM ones brand new hooked each one up one at a time following the proper length and cylinder. I even replaced the ignition coil pack with a brand new OEM one i think last week figuring it could been bad or something.

since i was reading catalytic/o2 sensor error codes i ended up replacing all 4 o2 sensor codes and the converter assembly before the flex assembly as well. put in the only 1 gasket i could find knowledge of anywhere including by the manufacturer. i was looking for the donut gaskets for the flange tubes at the headers but i couldn't find any info even the shops had nothing available for this car that fit.

took it for a decent drive maybe went around the block at around 30mphish 5 times. seems to drive smooth tbh it doesn't sound loud as well like before and i didn't really smell anything unlike before it had a weird smell like burning gas ( maybe it was phosporus smell i don't think so though ) but it didn't have that smell anymore. reved it to 40 to see how it would fair since i have to drive up a steep hill twice going to work and getting home. it seem to do fine.

only issue i still have though is that the idle is pretty rough when at a complete stop. car is shaking but not terribly. then when gasing it off of a start it just doesn't feel right. it doesn't feel as smooth as it should.

as for the muffler thing yea i think it might just be condensation. fuel doesn't seem to be going low i was thinking maybe it was fuel leaking maybe i screwed up replacing the damn fuel filter. engine didn't seem to get hot it seemed like usual even when it opened up fully. tried to scan car but only reads p1000 since i disconnected the battery to change out the converter ( to spray the bolts since it's hard to spray the top part and i already sprayed the bottom multiple times without any budge )

[Lethidox]

https://www.edmunds.com/ford/windsta...eatures-specs/

not entirely sure on the name tbh it's a v6 and according to that 150 hp @ 5,000 rpm
Torque 172 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm

im just trying to learn to fix for future car project; knowledge wise i basically got none or skills. just learning as i go and watching youtube vids/reading various things and basically learning from mistakes/help from you guys

[shorod]

Those holes in the muffler are condensate drains to allow water to drip out. I wouldn't expect a steady stream, but some water is normal. It's the job of the catalytic converter(s) to convert unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust to water vapor.


-Rod

[Lethidox]

Ahh I see I thought it was extra fuel from possibly running rich. It dried up pretty fast that's why but it smelled and felt like water

[shorod]

If it were coming out as a steady stream the entire time the engine was running, including after it was up to temperature, that certainly might be indicating a rather rich condition.

-Rod

[Lethidox]

i ended up checking tonight when i got home just to see if the catalytic converter was shaking bad and if it was leaking. didn't seem to be shaking as bad as when i first started it up and muffler wasn't leaking at all. first time yea it was like a leaking steady stream.

maybe it is condensation only.

[fredjacksonsan]

Check the level of your coolant, and the condition of the motor oil. You could have a bad head gasket.

[Lethidox]

I checked yesterday the reservoir is still same level for coolant and oil looks okay but I didn't wipe off the dipstick or check the viscosity.

I was looking online at viscosity for similar issues and one guy had a similar issue but it was his map sensor. I was going to wait until my day off to clean my MAS. I was going to buy the kit to check for gasket leak last though. The one where you pump in the blue liquid see if it turns yellow

[fredjacksonsan]

Does this have coil on plug, or plug wires from a central spark unit? From rereading your previous posts you have a misfire.

[Lethidox]

Ir has wires that connect to a coil pack. I had converter issues as well but since I changed my converter those codes are gone but I cannot figure out wth is wrong to deal with the misfire code.

I bought a new tps and fuel pressure regulator to see if those are the issues but other then that I can only assume head gasket leak, or mass air flow sensor which I plan to clean.

Only cylinder 1 is misfiring as well. Feels like it's dumping in more fuel then air when idling then when I gas it after a complete stop for say 1 minute there is some gurgling feel like it's putting more fuel.

I am reading up on similar issues they talk about map sensor and tps and fuel regulator but I personal don't know

[shorod]

MAP, TPS, and fuel regulator would not effect only a single cylinder. Since you've changed plugs and wires more than once, and if I recall correctly, the coil is new too, you really should track down a cylinder leak down tester to see if your misfire is due to a valve issue or similar. If you do not fix the misfire soon, you'll damage the new catalytic converter you just installed if the car is running rich. I suppose you could unplug the fuel injector for cylinder 1 to limit your chances of a rich condition (which is what causes the converter to overheat) if you absolutely need to drive the van before you solve this challenging misfire.

-Rod